Book carriers



Jan. 3, 1967 F. J. HEAI.

BOOK CARRIERS Filed July l2, 1965 l@ @wwf/wwf United States Patent O3,295,733 BOK CARRHERS Francis J. Heal, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,assignor, by

direct and rnesrle assignments, of thirty-three and onetiiird percent toMichael Horodeiski, Toronto, Gntario, Canada, and thirty-three andone-third percent to Reginald C. Longman, Don Mills, Ontario, CanadaFiled .lilly 12, 1965, Ser. No. 471,322 4 Claims. (Cl. 224-45) Myinvention relates to sets of books carried by students underneath -thearm and, more particularly, to devices designed for supporting andholding the books together While they are being carried. Such deviceslas have come to my attention are quite involved or unhandy, and it isthe main object of `the present invention to provide a carrier for thepurpose specified which is made only in two simple units, one to supportthe books and the other to hold them together.

A further object is to provide a sturdy rack of metal or plasticmaterial as the unit for supporting the books, and an elastic cord asthe unit for holding the books rmly in the rack.

Another object is to form the carrier in a manner to be suspended fromthe hand or from a rail when the student is walking or riding in apublic conveyance, or to be held under the larrn as a set of books isordinarily carried.

An additional object is to construct the rack of the carrier withreinforcing formations designed to keep the rack rigid while it isloaded with books or subjected to carrying strains.

A better understanding of the invention may be gained by reference tothe accompanying drawing, in which- FIG. l is ia front elevational viewof the carrier, with the elastic cord applied;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section showing the carrier loaded with a set ofbooks;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of FIG. l, without the elastic cord;

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a View showing the carrier suspended from the hand; and

FIG. 7 is a similar View showing the carrier held under the arm.

Specific reference to the drawing indicates the rack of the carrier asfa sturdy plate 10 iof substantially rectangular form. In actual sizelthe plate would be approximately inches high, 8 inches wide, and 371@inch thick. To reinforce the plate against `bending under strains, it isstruck back in the center with a vertical recess 10a defining a rearwall 10b. At the bottom the plate is extended with a forward shelf 10cat slightly less than a right angle to form a rack for accommodating aset of books B as illustrated in FIG. 3, with a tendency for the booksto settle or nest in the rack.

The shelf 10c of the rack is struck down in ea medial zone With a recess10d defining a bottom 10e which is a continuation of the rear Wall 10b,`as shown at left-bottom in FIG. 3. It is now evident that the wall 10band bottom 10e constitute reinforcements to fortify the rack againstbending when carrying a heavy load of books or when it is subjected tostrains.

The rack is made with a horizontal opening 10j near the top for a handgrip when lthe carrier is held suspended as in FIG. 6; and the upper endof the rack is rounded rearwardly to form a hook 10g suitable forhanging the carrier from a rail or molding when the student is riding ina public conveyance. However, the rack may be carried conveniently undert-he arm, as shown in FIG. 7, the bottom 10e of the rack presenting afrontal pocket rice 1011 engageable `by the fingers from underneath tosecure a firm supporting grip on the rack.

The retaining unit applied to the rack 10 for holding the set of books Bin place is in the form of an elastic cord 12. The ends of the cord areclamped in coiled wire sockets 13 terminating with hooks 13a. The cordassumes the form of an endless loop when the hooks 13a are connected asshown in FIG. 2. In the application of the loop to the rack 110,widelyspaced portions 12 extend from the lower edge of the opening 10ito the bottom of the rack 10 as shown in FIG. l. At the top the loopsections 12 pass through the opening and continue with morenarrowly-spaced portions 12a and an end 12b, the latter being returnedto t-he front by passing through an opening 10i in the `center of therack. A lug 10j depends into the opening 10i, and the end 12b of thecord loop is engaged with the lug 10]' from the frontal side, as seen inFIG. l. At the bottom the cord sections 12 take return 'bends 11.20 onthe inner sides of guard lugs 10k extended from the lower end of therack; .and the ybends rise with converging sections 12d joining in aloop end 12e. A lug 10m similar to the lug 10j rises from the bottom ofthe opening 10i; and the end 12e engages the lug 10m on the frontalside.. The oord is now anchored at both ends of the rack; and thefrontal cord sections 12 may .be distended to allow the lbooks to bemounted on the rack, and then released to engage them with tension fasindicated in FIG. 3.

It is now apparent that the novel book carrier has a rack of sturdyconstruction, with a shelf on which the books may be stacked as shown tosettle or nest in the rack. In addition, a sim-ple elastic cord isretentively looped around the rack to present frontal portionsengageable with the books as stated. Thus, the carriermade only in twopieces-is suitable for supporting a set of books retentively, and of anature to be produced at low cost on a quantity basis.

I claim:

1. A Ibook carrier comprising a plate designed to serve as a backing fora set of books and having an opening near the upper end, a shelfextended forwardly from the bottom of the plate for support of thebooks, means for retaining the books in the carrier comprising anelastic cord loop with frontal companion sections spanning the loweredge of the opening and the outer edge of the shelf and terminalsections anchored on the reverse side of the plate.

2. The book carrier of claim 1, the plate having a medial opening deningopposed lugs and the elastic oord loop having terminal sectionsreturning toward each other on the reverse side of the plate and beinganchored on said lugs.

3. The |book carrier of claim 1, the free end of the shelf being bentdown to form a pocket opening rearwardly for a finger grip when thecarrier is supported under the arm.

4. The book carrier 4.of claim i1, the top of the plate being rolledback to form a hook for the hanging support of the carrier.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 188,199 3/1877Smith 224-45 3,041,774 7/1962 Walker 224-46 X 3,123,264 3/1964 Proctor224-48 X FOREIGN PATENTS 501,770 7/1930 Germany.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

1. A BOOK CARRIER COMPRISING A PLATE DESIGNED TO SERVE AS A BACKING FORA SET OF BOOKS AND HAVING AN OPENING NEAR THE UPPER END, A SHELFEXTENDED FORWARDLY FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE PLATE FOR SUPPORT OF THEBOOKS, MEANS FOR RETAINING THE BOOKS IN THE CARRIER COMPRISING ANELASTIC CORD LOOP WITH FRONTAL COMPANION SECTIONS SPANNING THE LOWEREDGE OF THE OPENING AND THE OUTER EDGE OF THE SHELF AND TERMINALSECTIONS ANCHORED ON THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE PLATE.